Guwahati (Assam) , March 6 : : The Congress party here has denied reports that All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev has resigned from the party over differences in the seat-sharing arrangement for the forthcoming Assam Assembly polls.
Earlier , several news portals claimed that Dev had resigned from the party as she was unhappy with the seat-sharing formula between the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) for the Assembly elections in Assam.
However, the party said that its women’s wing chief is a “very indispensable part” of the Congress.
“It has been brought to the notice of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee that a speculative news about resignation of President, All India Mahila Congress Ms Sushmita Dev is doing the rounds on television and web portals. We want to make it clear that Ms Sushmita Dev has not resigned from the party,” party spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma said in a statement.
Congress MP from Nagaon Pradyut Bordoloi also rubbished the reports and said: “She is very much with us. She is a very indispensable part of Congress. She is a very respected leader of our party.”
According to a report by PTI , Ms .Dev had reportedly walked out of a Congress meeting called to discuss the list of candidates at a city hotel and supporters of the women’s wing chief also demonstrated against Congress leaders who favoured allotting more seats to AIUDF in the Barak Valley.
The Congress is contesting the forthcoming state polls in alliance with five parties which includes AIUDF, the CPI, the CPI(M), the CPI(ML) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha .
The party already had a series of meetings with its alliance partners and also within the Congress to discuss the seat-sharing arrangement.
Elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly are slated to be held in three phases ,March 27, April 1 and April 6.
Results are expected on May 2.
( With PTI inputs)